Consider Phlebas
Culture Series, Book 1
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Consider Phlebas
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Narrated by:
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Peter Kenny
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Written by:
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Iain M. Banks
About this listen
The novels of Iain M. Banks have forever changed the face of modern science fiction. His Culture books combine breathtaking imagination with exceptional storytelling, and have secured his reputation as one of the most extraordinary and influential writers in the genre.
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
War rages across the galaxy. Billions have died, billions more are doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, face cold-blooded, brutal destruction. The Idirans fight for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles are at stake. There can be no surrender.
Within this cosmic conflict, a crucial battle of wits is waged. Deep within a fabled labyrinth, on a Planet of the Dead forbidden to mortals, lies a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans desperately seek it. It is the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, to actually find it - and with it their own destruction.
The Culture series:
Consider Phlebas
The Player of Games
Use of Weapons
Excession
Inversions
Look to Windward
Matter
Surface Detail
The Hydrogen Sonata
The State of the Art
Other books by Iain M. Banks:
Against a Dark Background
Feersum Endjinn
The Algebraist
What the critics say
'Banks is a phenomenon' William Gibson
What listeners say about Consider Phlebas
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Cam
- 2024-04-01
Very detailed.
A very intricate and complex world being built and explained for most of the book. Understandably, it takes quite a while to explain anything as the world is so unique.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Quinn Radford
- 2022-12-09
for your consideration
an exploration of what it means to be human, what it means to be truly phlebas.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Shesophist
- 2019-02-17
Decent series opener
-1 perf for some skipping at end.
A decent opening to the Culture series. Occurs on the fringe of a galactic war between the AI utopian Culture and a militant theocratic biological species. Nothing particularly mindblowing occurs, but it's a cool world, and fairly action packed.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Naz
- 2018-06-21
An interesting milieu story
The story is entertaining, but most importantly, Bank's world is fascinating. I found the performance good.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Austin Fusilier
- 2018-09-13
Mis-fire
Consider Phlebas is something of a grand failure. Clearly, Mr Banks has wooed a size-able following, and so I don't mean his failure is material or communicative. Rather, the failure of the novel relates to its intended purpose: to introduce a new reader to the relatively unique concept of the Culture (a space-faring social Utopia that is Banks' response to traditional science fiction conceits) by ushering it in through the eyes of a sworn opponent, and then convincing the reader to mis-believe that perception.
To do that, an author needs the trust and confidence of the reader - and to gain that trust and confidence, the author must demonstrate that they can handle the task they are set about. It ultimately doesn't matter whether Banks can succeed in convincing readers that the Culture is a force for good if those same readers have quit the book in frustration.
#Audible1
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- C. Johnson
- 2018-05-01
Grand story, but...
Grand story, masterful writing, however...
With all apologies to Peter Kenny, his breathy, hushed, rushed delivery effectively killed my desire to listen to audiobooks for the time being.
Indeed, I could not even finish this one and stopped 20 minutes shy of completion.
Perhaps it’s just that his style is so in contrast with my own internal narration when I read that it just disagreed with me personally.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marcus
- 2024-06-10
My new favorite sci-fi book series!?
I think this might be my favorite sci-fi book in terms of overall concept!
The writing and performance were amazing. Can’t wait to read the rest of this series.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David A.
- 2021-08-07
A glorious space opera
Read this several years ago, but wanted to experience it again as an audio book. I was not disappointed as the reading and characterization were excellent. As for the the story, it’s filled with unique, sometimes off-putting (the Eaters…), but always interesting characters, concepts and set-pieces. A great intro to Banks’ Culture books.
A truly wonderful sci-fi novel and a conceptual thrill ride throughout!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sarah Culver
- 2021-03-09
A great read for future-realists
Great narration, well conceived and well written book. The brutal, pessimistic plot, while good future-realism, isn't for me.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 2022-09-10
Like a long good episode of Blake’s 7
This was an enjoyable listen, with a Blake’s 7eque story line set in a well thought out Galactic setting.
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